Meaning

noun a variable color averaging a deep pink

noun the hard stony skeleton of a Mediterranean coral that has a delicate red or pink color and is used for jewelry

noun unfertilized lobster roe; reddens in cooking; used as garnish or to color sauces

originFrom Old French coral (French corail), from Latin corallium, from Ancient Greek κοράλλιον (korállion, “coral”). Probably ultimately of Semitic origin, compare Hebrew גּוֹרָל (goral, “small pebble”), Arabic جَرَل (jaral, “small stone”), originally referring to the red variety found in the Mediterranean. Since ancient times, a common folk etymology, accepted by some earlier scholars, connected the…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0